Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401220127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
John Andretti plans to be the first driver to try.
"Hopefully, it's more than just a possibility," Andretti said this week during Charlotte's annual NASCAR media tour.
Andretti, 30, the nephew of driving great Mario Andretti, plans to drive the full Winston Cup season for car owner Billy Hagan, but he also expects to have a ride for the Indy 500 in a car owned by A.J. Foyt and Jonathan Byrd.
The 500 begins at noon and should be finished in about three hours. With the 600 beginning at 5 p.m., that would give Andretti about 2 1/2 hours to travel from Indianapolis to Charlotte.
He said he doesn't expect to be too tired because "Indy is not a race that takes a lot out of you physically."
When Hagan first heard of the plan, "he was not excited about it," Andretti said. "But he thought about it and now he's totally for it. Both sides are completely behind me doing it."
He paused, then added: "Maybe not A.J. But give him a day and he may be for it."
Last year, Andretti became the first driver to compete in a stock car, an Indy car, a GTP sports car and an NHRA top fuel dragster in the same season.
\ RUBBER MATCH: In the great tire contest of 1994, Goodyear has conceded round one - preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway - to rival Hoosier.
Harry Gant, Darrell Waltrip and other drivers consistently ran two- or three-tenths of a second faster per lap on Hoosier tires than on Goodyears. At 190 mph, two-tenths of a second is a difference of about 1 mph. In NASCAR racing, most teams would sell their souls to run 1 mph faster.
Leo Mehl, Goodyear's director of worldwide racing, believes his company will prevail in the long run by keeping a steady hand on the rudder.
"We're not going to react to that three-tenths," Mehl said. "We're going to go to Daytona with a tire that is fast and a tire that is safe. The only thing that protects the drivers is our word that we're not going over the edge. We're going to sacrifice races if we have to."
Bob Newton, Hoosier's president Bob Newton, understandably was pleased with the Daytona tests.
"You see what's been going on," he said. "We're very happy as to what has been happening down there. But you don't know what's going to happen until you meet 'em head to head."
Mehl said the Hoosiers appear to be a quarter-inch or half-inch narrower and have a harder compound than his Goodyears. "They're faster down the straight," he said. "It's a good qualifying setup."
Goodyear has tried the same type of tire in the past, but it didn't fare well on the track during a race and led to numerous complaints, Mehl said.
So far, Hoosier has Geoff Bodine and rookies Ward Burton, Jeff Burton and Rick Carelli under contract for this year.
by CNB